TV and Electronics Recycling in Arlington: What Is Free and Where
Most electronics in Arlington can be recycled for nothing if you are willing to drive them somewhere. The questions are where, which kinds, and what to do about the data first.
Call (682) 226-7611
The short answer
Arlington residents can drop electronics free at the Arlington Landfill's Public Convenience Center, and the city holds free events, with none listed after October 31, 2026. Computer makers selling in Texas must take back their own brands free, and TV makers run programs. Wipe devices first. Junk Koala Arlington collects a TV for $59, within a $129 job minimum.
- Free drop-off
- Landfill Public Convenience Center, 800 Mosier Valley Road; no batteries
- City events
- Last listed October 31, 2026; no later date posted when checked
- State programs
- Free brand take-back for computers; listed TV makers run recycling programs
- Your data
- Wipe or remove drives first; certified data destruction is not offered here
Where each kind of device can go in Arlington
Free routes first. Event details change, so check the city's calendar before planning around one.
| What you have | Free or low-cost route |
|---|---|
| Flat-screen or CRT television | Landfill Public Convenience Center drop-off; city electronics events, which list both flat screens and CRTs; the maker's recycling program through TCEQ's Texas Recycles TVs list. |
| Desktop, laptop, monitor, keyboard, mouse | Landfill drop-off; city events; the manufacturer's free take-back for its own brand under the Texas Recycles Computers program. |
| Phones and tablets | Listed at city events as cellphones and tablets. Sign out of every account and reset them first. |
| Printers, office and stereo equipment, cameras | Listed at city events; otherwise the landfill electronics drop-off. |
| Microwaves and small corded appliances | Listed at city events. Refrigerators, freezers, wine coolers and air conditioners are not, because they contain Freon. |
| Loose batteries | Not accepted at the landfill. Accepted at city electronics events, and at Fort Worth's Environmental Collection Center, which Arlington residents can use free. |
The landfill drop-off is the everyday option
The city's recycling page lists two free ways for Arlington residents to recycle electronics, and only one of them is open most days: dropping electronics at the Public Convenience Center at the Arlington Landfill, 800 Mosier Valley Road. Public hours run Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with closures on New Year's Day, July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.
Two details are worth knowing before you load the car. Batteries are not accepted at the landfill, so take out any that come out easily and send them by a battery route instead. And the landfill's own page reserves its free visits for homeowners whose permanent residence is in Arlington. The recycling page calls the electronics drop-off free for residents without saying whether it uses one of those visits, so if you rent, call the scale house at 817-354-2300 first.
For one television and a box of cables, that drive is the cheapest route there is, and it is available six days a week.
City electronics events: worth it when one is on the calendar
Arlington also holds free paper-shredding and electronics recycling events in the UTA parking lot at the southeast corner of Mitchell Street and Cooper Street. The 2026 events were listed for Saturday, April 11 and Saturday, October 31, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. or until the trucks filled, with proof of Arlington residency required.
When this guide was checked on November 2, 2026, no later event had been posted. Treat that as a snapshot rather than a schedule, and look at the city's community calendar before holding anything back for the next one.
The accepted list is broad: flat-screen and CRT televisions, computers and components, office and stereo equipment, cameras, phones and tablets, microwaves, small corded appliances, satellite dishes, and batteries and battery backups. Anything containing Freon, such as a refrigerator, freezer, wine cooler or air conditioner, is excluded.
What the Texas take-back programs do for you
Texas puts part of the job on manufacturers. Under the Texas Recycles Computers program, a company selling new computer equipment in the state must offer consumers a free and convenient way to recycle its own brand. TCEQ defines that equipment as a desktop or laptop, a monitor, and a keyboard and mouse made by the same manufacturer, bought mainly for personal or home-business use, however old it is.
Televisions run under a separate Texas Recycles TVs program. Each manufacturer on TCEQ's list has notified the state that it offers a program to collect and recycle consumers' used TVs, and TCEQ's page links straight to each brand's instructions. If your brand is missing, TCEQ suggests contacting the maker directly and notes that, because the programs are based on market share, another brand's program may take your set. Some household hazardous waste programs accept televisions as well.
TCEQ is clear that it does not provide recycling services itself; it points you to the company that does. These programs earn their keep for an off-brand monitor, a laptop you would rather send back to its maker, or a set the landfill route does not suit.
Clearing your data before a device leaves the house
TCEQ's guidance says consumers are responsible for any information left on equipment that is collected, recycled or reused. Junk Koala Arlington does not offer certified data destruction, so this part is yours.
- 1
Back up what you want to keep
Photos, documents, saved passwords and authenticator apps. Once a device is reset, none of it comes back.
- 2
Sign out of accounts and device locks
Turn off Find My on Apple devices and remove your Google account from Android phones. A locked device is useless to a recycler and still tied to you.
- 3
Reset phones and tablets to factory settings
Use the reset in the device settings, then take out the SIM card and any memory card.
- 4
Wipe or pull computer drives
Use the operating system's reset with the option to clean the drive, or take the drive out and keep or destroy it yourself. With a compliance obligation, hire a certified destruction vendor for the drives.
- 5
Remember the less obvious storage
Many printers and copiers keep an internal drive, and smart TVs and streaming boxes stay signed in to your accounts. Sign out of every app and reset those too.
Having it collected, and what that costs
If the drive to Mosier Valley Road is the obstacle, Junk Koala Arlington collects electronics from inside the house and routes them to electronics recycling, not landfill. In the Junk Koala price book a TV lists at $59, but every job carries a $129 minimum, so one television on its own is charged $129 before sales tax. A home office or a closet of old equipment is usually better priced by the space it fills; an eighth of a truck is $149.
That arithmetic is the main reason to bundle: the second TV, the old printer and the tangle of cables share the visit and the minimum. The other reason is weight. Rear-projection sets and big CRTs are two- or three-person carries, and an unusual list, such as ten televisions, can carry a separate disposal and recycling line, which is shown before you book and never added on the day.
Removable batteries come out before the load is sorted. Drives do not: wipe or remove them first, as above.
- Flat panels, CRTs and projection sets
- Wall-mounted TVs taken down, mounts included
- Computers, monitors, printers and copiers
- Routed to electronics recycling
- No certified data destruction
A closet of old electronics, one visit
Photograph the pile, say which floor it is on, and a written quote comes back before anything is scheduled.
FAQ
Related questions
- Where can I recycle an old TV for free in Arlington?
- The Arlington Landfill's Public Convenience Center, 800 Mosier Valley Road, is the free electronics drop-off the city lists for residents, open Monday through Saturday. City electronics events and the manufacturer programs on TCEQ's Texas Recycles TVs list are the other free routes.
- When is the next Arlington electronics recycling event?
- None had been posted when this guide was checked on November 2, 2026; the latest listed event was Saturday, October 31, 2026, in the UTA parking lot at Mitchell and Cooper streets. Check the city's community calendar for new dates, and use the landfill drop-off in the meantime.
- Do computer companies have to take back old computers in Texas?
- Yes, for their own brands. Texas requires manufacturers selling new computer equipment in the state to offer consumers free, convenient recycling for desktops, laptops, monitors and matching keyboards and mice bought for personal or home-business use. TCEQ's manufacturer list links to each brand's program.
- Will Junk Koala Arlington wipe the hard drive on my old computer?
- No. The branch does not offer data wiping or certified data destruction, so wipe or remove drives before collection. TCEQ's guidance is that consumers are responsible for any information left on equipment that is recycled or reused.
- How much does it cost to have one TV picked up in Arlington?
- $129 before sales tax, if it is the only thing on the booking. A TV lists at $59 in the Junk Koala price book, but every job has a $129 minimum, so other items can share the visit until their list prices add up past it.
Sources
- City of Arlington: Recycling and Sustainability Programs — checked
- City of Arlington: Paper Shredding and Electronics Recycling event listing — checked
- City of Arlington: Arlington Landfill — checked
- TCEQ: Texas Recycles TVs Program — checked
- TCEQ: Guidance for the Texas Recycles Computers Program — checked
- TCEQ: Texas Recycles Computers Program manufacturer list — checked
Ready when you are
You point. We haul. That is the whole arrangement.
Choose a window from the live Arlington calendar, or send a few photographs and get the number first. Homes or businesses, one item or a whole property.
Or call (682) 226-7611
The Arlington branch
Junk Koala Arlington
1140 W Pioneer Pkwy, Ste 1144E
Arlington, TX 76013